Our Newest Resident in Sanctuary |
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Greetings!
Our newest intake is a horse we knew about in October of 2021 and his story and this outcome I felt was compelling and needed a newsletter all on its own.
Murray is now safe in Sanctuary at Dharmahorse.
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When we first saw this photo |
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Last October, this Appaloosa gelding came up on the New Mexico estray site. Usually, the horses on that site are up for bid to the public, but a licensed Sanctuary can bid the minimum amount and will get the horse. In this horse's case, he was a seizure (we don't know why, but can guess) and the judge ruled he would go to the highest bidder, period. He was being kept at an undisclosed location.
I was concerned for this horse. If you're like me, you can see that, in this photo, he is in pain. We fundraised, got just over $400 in one day and bid $600, hoping to get him. We were outbid. All we could do was pray that he got a good home (he did) and return to concentrating on the horses already here. We took in the orphaned colt, Pepper, who had the (healed) broken leg... concentrated on him and on Sage's EORTH (requiring the extraction of his incisors!), focused on Comet's arthritis and Gita's DSLD... there was, and always will be, plenty to do here in the care of the horses.
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Early this month, I was contacted by the man who had made the highest bid and bought the horse. They named him "Murray". I immediately took that as a sign (I'm strange), thinking "Murray River"... Mark being from Australia, you know. This fellow wondered if we were still interested in Murray. He could not be ridden. After Vet consults and X Rays, the diagnosis was Navicular Syndrome on both front hooves and Founder (rotation of the coffin bone) on the left hind... yep, he was in pain in October and still was.
We said, "yes, we want him". The owner brought him to us from up north in the state, arriving on May 21st. We took him into Sanctuary. He is here for life... however long that will be, depending on how much we can help him become comfortable again.
We set up a new quarantine pen for him where we could fill it with soft arroyo sand (I had seen the X Rays!). We set up windbreak screens, a nightlight, a giant slow feed net for grass hay, a rubber mat for alfalfa & the mash feed tub, all within several trees for shade & a feeling of security at the side of the house with the stone wall at the north.
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Murray arrived, sore from his journey. He drank water, he pooped, he picked at the hay. He tried to roll but had trouble - his back was so tight, stiff and only added to the complications of his sore hooves.
He yawned a lot - at first I thought it was "releasing", but over the first two days, I watched him eat intermittently and show more signs of an ulcer. He went right onto Ulcerguard paste!
We put him on Buteless pellets (to keep from irritating an ulcer more), Equinety supplement in mashes twice daily with Calf Manna for strength. He has a Redmond Rock (mineral source) Himalayan salt and white salt. He started talking a lot for his meals... being less "shut down".
I am packing his hooves with Magic Cushion and rubbing his body with Sore No More. He is worried when I work on him (treating a scrape on his face from the trailer ride was upsetting) and seemed surprised by fly spray! He hated the fly mask I had that would fit him, so I ordered another style I hope will be better tolerated.
He is submissive - doesn't fight anything, but he does things as if there would be consequences if he did not comply... and there probably were in his past.
Yesterday he rolled in the sand with no problems! He has been lying down, hopefully getting some real sleep (REM). He is already walking better. And I tell him constantly, no one will ever ride him again.
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Murray will be in quarantine for at least 14 days. This means sanitizing everything (and everyone) in contact with him in case of some incubating illness. His temperature remains low each day (something else he really hates having done). We put colloidal silver in his water (and all the other water tubs for the other horses). His gums are pink... but I think his teeth need a lot of work, he has points! So, we have a Vet appointment for dentals.
He has no roof (we didn't have funds or time to build one before he arrived) in this new quarantine pen, but we needed him on soft sand more. Should a storm come up, we can shift him to the old quarantine pen & finish the isolation there, but the ground is harder there. And, Crickey, shavings just blow away...
We will do the best we can for Murray. He has already improved in just a few days and he seems to be his own advocate. His personality will (hopefully) return and we will be certain he never gets flooded or feels shut down again.
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We see each horse here as an individual with physical, mental and emotional needs that are dynamic and fluctuate with the weather, the seasons, their changing bodies as they age and who they live with as a herd. |
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If you can help us with funds to provide the special care these individuals need we would be so grateful. Some were abandoned, starving and blind; some were declared hopeless and heading for euthanasia or slaughter; some were brutalized; some orphaned and injured; some were cherished by owners who passed over or became ill or injured. Each horse needed to be in Sanctuary and we took them in as family.
You can use this DONATE button to access our website & donate from there. If you want to send a check, the address is 6874 Coyote Road, Las Cruces, NM, USA, 88012. Make checks to Dharmahorse. We are a 501c3 nonprofit, so donations are tax deductible.
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We also have a WISH LIST at Chewy!
The Feed Products on the list are SO needed and appreciated!
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We don't do this for donations, we need donations to do this! |
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We wish you well. We hold this planet and all who fly with her in love & light.
Mahalo!
Katharine, Mark & the Dharma Horses
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